UPDATE: Mayor Officially Announces Curfew for Fayetteville Effective Wednesday Night
Mayor Mitch Colvin announced the City of Fayetteville will have an overnight curfew beginning Wednesday night at 9 p.m. The 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will be in effect for 30 days, unless circumstances warrant changing it. The order also discourages any large gatherings outside of private homes. (Read the order here.)
“This is a fast moving situation that requires us to do things we haven’t done before,” Mayor Colvin said. “The city council and myself are willing to do whatever we can to help slow the spread of this virus in our community. Today I’ve asked the city attorney, after consulting with city council to put in place a curfew effective tomorrow at 9 p.m.
“We are all going to have to make some temporary sacrifices in order to defeat coronavirus.”
Mayor Colvin said the Fayetteville order will be stricter than the order from the State of North Carolina, but that exclusions to the curfew would include essential services.
“There is no magic bullet to this. We need to make sure we emphasize the importance of the stay at home order,” Colvin said.
Colvin said there have been a number of social gatherings happening in our community, with 10 or more people. The order is being put in place to help stop things like house parties, cookouts, and other mass gatherings, Colvin said.
The Chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners said earlier Tuesday that this order would not apply to the entire county, but only to the City of Fayetteville.
Colvin said that he spoke to most of the members of Fayetteville City Council regarding the order, and that the emergency declaration made March 16 allows for the mayor and City Manager Doug Hewett to put in place measures like this, without holding further meetings.
“This was not a decision that I made lightly,” Colvin said.
Original story:
The City of Fayetteville will have an overnight curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., beginning Wednesday night, Mayor Mitch Colvin told WKML.
“It is important we are proactive in stopping this pandemic,” Mayor Colvin said. “We are working to closing the door on the coronavirus, the curfew is a great step in that direction.”
The mayor said the curfew will help alleviate strain on first responders and medical personnel, as the instances of COVID-19 infections increase in the community. With fewer people on the streets, there will ideally be fewer opportunities for police and emergency calls, allowing these workforces to recuperate.
More details will be released Tuesday, but Colvin said the plan will be a little more restrictive than Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order. Gov. Cooper said that municipalities can institute more restrictive policies as needed to help meet specific needs, and that whichever of the two policies is stricter would take precedence.
The mayor will be speaking on air on WKML Tuesday morning.
